"We provide specific training to all staff about what items go in the red bags," says Debbie Ralph, RN, assistant head nurse at Salinas Valley Memorial Hospital in Salinas, Calif. ![]() A simple rule to follow: If you can sling it, fling it or wring it, it goes in the red bag. They're not thinking about walking a few feet further to put waste in the correct bag. They'll often throw waste into the closest trash receptacle. Don't assume that your staff knows what is and isn't red bag waste. An often-overlooked element of success is training your staff to place waste in the proper receptacle. A recycling program is only as good as your frontline staff's commitment to the program. Train staff to dispose of waste in the right receptacle. "You'd be surprised how many people want that wrap for things like painting projects at home, packing to move, donating to their vet or a variety of other projects," says Mary Wilson, RN, BSN, CNOR, WVUH's clinical preceptor/educator.Ģ. West Virginia University Hospitals in Morgantown, W.Va., keeps most of its blue wrap out of the landfill by collecting it in separate containers and making it available to hospital employees who want it. "Instead, we use regular dishes and silver that we wash and reuse," says Ms. Even the staff lounge is a green haven: Staff don't use paper or plastic plates and cups. The endo center also recycles batteries and fluorescent light bulbs by taking them to the local recycling center, says Ms. Outside the center, staff place shredding and shipping cartons in 2 large recycling containers. Inside, there's a trash can dedicated to recycling magazines, juice and soda cans, plastic wrap from patient gowns and plastic bags, says Nurse Manager Joyce Mackler, RN, MSN. ![]() You'll find recycling bins inside and outside the Seaford (Del.) Endoscopy Center. Surgicare Crosspointe in Evansville, Ind., has cut its waste disposal costs in half by recycling the many non-hazardous materials that accumulate when you open a case, including wrappers, peel packs, suture packets, IV bags and saline bottles, says OR Manager Angie Field, RN. Here are a few more green practices in the OR you can implement that are as good for the environment as they are for your bottom line.ġ. Reprocessing compression stockings, blood pressure cuffs, pulse oximeters, clamps, scissors and staplers is just one way to save on waste disposal. "It might not sound like much, but it adds up." "It makes me feel good when I see the numbers," says Ms. ![]() By using such reprocessed devices as trocars and ortho shavers, the hospital's ORs have diverted 4,360 devices and 976 pounds from landfills and saved $488 in waste disposal costs in the last 12 months alone, stats provided by the vendor from which the hospital has purchased its reprocessed devices for the last 5 years for about half the cost of new. John Oakland has done its part to go green. "I'm not a fanatic about it, but I'd like to do things that are good for the environment and to save money." Barnett, the clinical nurse manager of surgical services at St. "I hate looking at landfills when driving down the highway," says Ms. EASE OF USE A hands-free receptacle with a foot lever makes it easy for staff to discard contaminated waste.
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